Matei Varga presents

EARLY DEPARTURES

"[A] grand and wonderfully lugubrious new release from the young Romanian pianist Matei Varga...
[Dumitrescu's] nine piano preludes recorded here are largely vivacious and full of dense keyboard intricacies that Varga exploits splendidly... Janácek’s swirling, Impressionist masterpiece...gets an appealingly fluid performance. The slow movement of Bach’s D-Minor Concerto...closes out the disc like a serene funeral benediction."

Joshua Kosman, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

"Varga taps into the expressive sound world of Janacek's In the Mists, employing ample rubato and generally measured tempos. Indeed he transforms the Andantino into a moody tone poem... The pianist closes with the Adagio from the Bach D Minor concerto after Marcello. The gentle inward reading realizes Varga's soothing, calming intention... [A] a beautifully executed and engineered achievement, that does this talented young pianist proud."

“Make no mistake, this artist is not yet another dazzling firebrand eagerly ready for his next interview and photo-op combo, but a deeply serious musician well in the midst of a major career."

Rafael de Acha, Rafael's Music Notes

“Varga’s performance of their work is a welcome document on great talents we might have watched grow into towering maturity. Tudor Dumitrescu, for example, killed at the age of 19 in the 1997 earthquake that struck Bucharest, was, by a few recorded accounts, another Van Cliburn. His 7 Preludes, Preludes in C Sharp Minor and B Minor are heartfelt works revealing a fluid writing style, and profound understanding of his instrument. His emotional maturity is striking.”

Alex Baran, The Whole Note (Toronto)

"Matei Varga pours as much emotion into [this] performance as I can recall hearing before on record... his ideas are powerful and convincing... [He] has certainly given us much of himself on this excellent recording, and it deserves a place on the shelf of any collection of fine piano music."

Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International

“…[Dumitrescu’s] 7 Preludes, as performed by Matei Varga, represent a musical, cultural and spiritual restitution, of the most overwhelming kind. Deeply influenced by Tudor Dumitrescu’s genius and his tragic destiny, Varga earns him a place among the immortals… This disc is not just a musical project - it is a symbolic gesture, deep and serious, of outstanding importance… Varga, an exceptional performer who is himself touched by genius, fully understands Dumitrescu and Lipatti, and makes them his own…”